{"id":645,"date":"2020-01-09T18:32:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T23:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fantastic-realities.com\/studio_blog\/?p=645"},"modified":"2020-01-11T14:29:33","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T19:29:33","slug":"on-the-new-2019-mac-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fantastic-realities.com\/studio_blog\/2020\/01\/on-the-new-2019-mac-pro\/","title":{"rendered":"On The New 2019 Mac Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Apple Mac Pro 2019 and Pro XDR Display – Photo: Slash Gear<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Been a while, and I am back<\/strong>, since this issue is on my immediate horizon.<\/p>\n

I make my way as a working Graphic and Web Designer in the green hills of West Virginia where I relocated from the NYC region in 2014. In that time, the Mac computing landscape has changed immensely \u2013 and not changed much. But you KNOW that the New Mac Pro would catch my eye, and appropriate pro kvetching. It’s design, it’s features, it’s engineering, and it’s blink-worthy pricing, all very worthy of discussion.<\/p>\n

Am I going to get into it? As a mid-tier working-class Design Guy \u2013 Oh, Hell Yes.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Announced in 2012, Apple in 2013 released the \u201ctrashcan\u201d Mac Pro 2013<\/strong>, which while a powerful machine, was frozen in amber, and like Apple\u2019s consumer machines, almost entirely non-upgradable. It\u2019s compact form factor and \u201cunified thermal core\u201d meant that thermal management issues created hard limits to the power of any of the components that were upgradable. The unique and proprietary form factors of the 2013 MPs graphics modules were not attractive to third party providers. The story was similar for the SSD Drives, again, a proprietary Apple format, and beyond Apple\u2019s initial offerings, no further upgrades became generally available. This Mac Pro has no expansion slots in the traditional sense (PCIe, for example) nor expansion bays for additional storage.<\/p>\n

The machines had fairy good external expandability but it was mostly Thunderbolt, which would require a hefty investment in new externals for most creatives – who typically have a desk scattered with USB & Firewire externals. But what put the machine in the ground, was that Apple never updated the machine. At ALL<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the intervening years. Apple focused on sleeker, thinner with it\u2019s Macs, the MacBook Air and Pro, and the iMac got thinner and thinner, till they reached their current svelte form factors. Then, finally some relief for creatives, the iMac Pro<\/strong> was released in late 2017 – no updates to date – with a much more muscular system. But like the iMac, which grew ever more non-upgradable, the iMac Pro was another sealed box with essentially no user upgradable components. Any upgrades would require the removal of the machine\u2019s display. Ideally at the time of purchase users would have to get the maximum machine they would need \u2013 and could afford \u2013 for the life of the machine. The only upgrades the iMac Pro have officially received have been price cuts for RAM and storage options<\/p>\n

To be sure, even a modern stock iMac outperforms a typical 2008-2010 Mac Pro. But as any working professional could tell you – performance is quite a lot, but it is not everything.<\/em><\/p>\n

So this year, Apple, just a few days before Solstice, so still counted as \u201cFall 2019\u201d, released the New Mac Pro<\/strong>. It\u2019s a pretty amazing beast of a machine, and literally a checkbox wish list of pro user features, and engineered to a fare-thee-well. It is a no-nonsense muscular workstation-class machine – and priced accordingly. If you\u2019re processing 4K video, doing 3D modeling and animation, Climate Change simulations, Virtual Reality applications, or working for Pixar, or NASA – this might be the machine for you. \u201cIn many respects, the 2019 Mac Pro line is among the most expandable Macs that Apple ever has released. With twelve RAM slots and eight PCIe slots, it promises amazing potential for professional users.\u201d<\/em> \u2013\u00a0everymac.com<\/p>\n

Apple also released a new high-end Pro Display XDR<\/strong>, with similar sticker shock. The pricing for the STAND alone at $999 raised some eyebrow – even wheeled feet for the MP land at an eye-watering $400. But let\u2019s put to rest issues of \u201cprice gouging\u201d \u2013 comparable machines on the Linux and PC side weigh in at similar, if not higher, pricing for the user cases intended, i.e. \u2013\u00a0working for Pixar, or NASA. Fully tricked out, you can push the price of a new Mac Pro beyond $50,000<\/em> – not including externals or display.<\/p>\n

Worthy of note, Apple has absolutely not settled whatever beef they have with NIVIDIA. No drivers for NIVIDA Graphics Cards for the new Mac Pro, or on the horizon. That, in a word, sucks<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I am still running my two aging Mac Pros – a 2008 and a late-2010 2 x 2.4 GHz Quad Core. I have pampered and maintained these machines, one bought new, the other lightly used.\u00a0For a wide cadre of mid-tier “working class” professional creatives, we’d been absolutely happy with the components of the nearly utterly non-upgradeable iMac Pro placed in the user-upgradable and maintainable Mac Pro 5,1 Tower form factor. There are a LOT of us that don’t work for Pixar or NASA, and are keeping our ten-plus year old MP Towers alive as best we can \u2013 till we CAN’T. There will come a critical software upgrade that just won’t run on the faithful beasts, and they’ll go in the basement with the ZIP drives and CD-ROMs. I am looking at my options for when the time comes, which many creative professionals in this mid-tier of Graphic and Web Designers, Photographers, Musicians, face. Yeah, us workin’-class<\/em> creative pros.<\/p>\n

The choices are: Upgrade My better Mac Pro, a new iMac Pro, a New Mac Pro. Where do the numbers shake out? So I did a little poking about and number crunching….<\/p>\n

\n

UPGRADE MAC PRO 5,1 Late-2010<\/h1>\n
\"2010-12<\/a>
2010-12 Mac Pro showing internals, CPU\/Memory tray and GPU. Ifixit.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mac Pro Late 2010
\nMacPro5,1
\n2 x 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
\n32 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
\nATI Radeon HD 5770 1024 MB
\n1TB RAID 1 Mirror Storage ( 2x 1TB )<\/p>\n

Potential Upgrades<\/h2>\n

GRAPHCS CARDS – Mojave* Metal Compatible<\/h2>\n

OWC Radeon RX 580 8GB
\nMetal Comp. plug n play $ 350
\n[ note no apple boot screen]
\nNvidia GTX 970 4 GB
\nMDPx3\/DVI\/Mini-HDMI $ 375
\nNvidia GTX 980 4 GB
\nDPx3\/DVI\/HDMI $ 425
\nNvidia Quadro K5000 4GB GDDR5
\nDPx2\/DVI-I\/DVI-D $ 430
\nNvidia GTX 1070 8GB
\nDPx3\/DVI\/HDMI $ 555<\/p>\n

STORAGE<\/h2>\n

OWC Mercury Electra 3G SSD
\n2 x 1TB $ 145 $ 290
\n2 x 2TB $ 321 $ 642<\/p>\n

MEMORY<\/h2>\n

OWC Memory 64.0GB
\n8 x 8.0GB PC10600 DDR3 $ 245<\/p>\n

Options<\/h2>\n

USB 3\/USB C Card $ 70 – $150<\/p>\n

UPGRADE COST \u2013\u00a0$ 955 – $ 1592<\/h2>\n

*Notes – The maximum Mac OS would be Mojave. Mac OS Catalina will not run on pre-2013 Mac Pros.<\/p>\n

\n

NEW IMAC PRO<\/h1>\n
\"\"<\/a>
IMac Pro. You sexy beast.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New iMac Pro – Basic* Config<\/strong><\/h2>\n

3.2GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz
\n64GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory
\nRadeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB of HBM2 memory
\n2TB SSD storage
\nMagic Trackpad 2 – Space Gray
\nMagic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad<\/p>\n

SYSTEM COST \u2013\u00a0$5,850.00 [ *Base config $5K ]<\/h2>\n

*Bumped up to \u201ca bit more muscular\u201d configuration \u2013<\/h2>\n

3.0GHz 10-core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz
\n64GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory
\nAMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB of HBM2 memory
\n2TB SSD storage
\nMagic Keyboard + Magic Trackpad 2
\n27-inch Retina 5K 5120-by-2880 P3 display<\/p>\n

SYSTEM COST \u2013\u00a0$ 7200.00<\/h2>\n
\n

NEW MAC PRO 2019<\/h1>\n
\"The<\/a>
The new 2019 Mac Pro. Beautiful Monster. Apple.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJust through the door\u201d – Base Configuration<\/h2>\n

3.5GHz 8\u2011core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
\n32GB (4x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory*
\nRadeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory (this is a lackluster card at this level.)<\/em>*
\n256GB SSD storage (Seriously???)<\/em>*
\nMagic Mouse 2
\nMagic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad – US English<\/p>\n

CPU COST \u2013 $6000<\/h2>\n

*Note: the base Mac Pro appears to be intended as a base platform for users to customize given the lean storage, RAM, and graphics specs.<\/p>\n

\u201cKicked up a notch for Designers\u201d Configuration<\/strong><\/h2>\n

3.5GHz 8\u2011core Intel Xeon W processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
\n48GB (6x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory [+$300]
\nRadeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory [+$2400]
\n2TB SSD storage [+$800]
\nMagic Trackpad 2 [+$50]
\nMagic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad – US English<\/p>\n

CPU COST \u2013 $9550<\/h2>\n

Pro Display XDR
\n32-inch Retina 6K w Standard Glass
\nPro Stand [$999]<\/p>\n

DISPLAY COST $6000<\/h2>\n

SYSTEM COST \u2013 $12,000 – $15,550<\/h2>\n
\n

So that\u2019s the vise<\/strong> that I, and other Mac-favoring Pro Creatives, find ourselves. Keep our older machines in service till the eventual and inevitable software upgrade that they won’t run. Buy the utterly non-upgradable iMac Pro, but we would have to get the heaviest iron we could possibly afford, versus future needs. After all, this is the machine Apple intends for the \u201crest of us pros.\u201d to buy. And of course performance, RAM and storage needs only curve one direction, and software will always overwhelm hardware. Or get a second mortgage and try to acquire a brilliant but costly 2019 Mac Pro \u2013 and not the somewhat anemic base configuration either! At least the iMac Pro comes with a Display.<\/p>\n

Of course we could always leave the platform. So many of my colleagues have thrown up their hands and voted with their wallets over Apple’s neglect and dismissal treatment of the mid-tier professional. So that choice is absolutely on the table. With mostly the same hardware under the hood, and most professional class software running on both platforms (and some now windows-only!), the choice of Mac OS over Windows (with it’s own issues and idiosyncrasies) is mostly one of preference, and other less critical factors.<\/p>\n

UNCOMFORTABLE CHOICES<\/h2>\n

Upgrade an older Mac Pro\u00a0tower\u2014 $1000-$1600<\/strong>
\niMac Pro \u2014 $7200<\/strong>
\nNew Mac Pro \u2014 $15,550 and up\u2026 and UP<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

But seriously folks, the New 2019 Mac Pro is an enterprise-class Lamborghini of Mac desktops, a drool-worthy beautiful monster, engineered to a fare-thee-well. But recalling Steve Job\u2019s famous \u201ctrucks\u201d analogy, I don’t need a Lamborghini eighteen-wheeler, I need a Dodge Ram 3500<\/em>. I\u2019ll can get my own damn aluminum wheels and fuzzy dice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Been a while, and I am back, since this issue is on my immediate horizon. I make my way as a working Graphic and Web Designer in the green hills of West Virginia where I relocated from the NYC region in 2014. In that time, the Mac computing landscape has changed immensely \u2013 and not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,29,14,27,16,13,85,82,125],"class_list":["post-645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apple","tag-creative-pro","tag-designers","tag-graphics","tag-hardware","tag-mac","tag-mac-pro","tag-technology","tag-upgrades"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"woocommerce_thumbnail":false,"woocommerce_single":false,"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Kurt Griffith","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fantastic-realities.com\/studio_blog\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":3,"uagb_excerpt":"Been a while, and I am back, since this issue is on my immediate horizon. 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